Last night there was an armed robbery at BJ’s drug on 450 Stanley Street. $382.65 was stolen as two men wearing ski masks entered the building armed. A gun was held to the head of the owner Barney Joseph, Jr. during the robbery. The masked men got away in a car that had the engine running outside of the building. Joseph did have a pistol under the counter but decided not to use it as he told police it felt unsafe.
This is not the first time this happened to the store, about 25 years ago BJ’s was robbed as well. Josephs father was the owner of the store and during the holdup he pulled out a weapon unlike his son and was shot and killed. The memory of his father being shot during a robbery seemed to affect Josephs decision to use his pistol. Joseph said “I rather part with my money than my life.” There were no other details about the two masked men.
A gracious donation from a deceased man gives children new rides at local parks. Robert T.F. Ho died two days ago but not to late to give back to the community. Robert was a local merchant who owned the Quick Stop Laundry on 390 Fifth Avenue. He wanted his donation of new rides to the parks to be from an anonymous person but when he died the Park department thought it would be good to release his name.
Roberts’s wife said “Robert always enjoyed watching the kids play in the park across the street. He felt sorry for the kids who had to wait to use the equipment, especially the little ones.” Now more kids will be able to play as new rides like the “Hanging Gate”, lets kids push themselves in circles and a “SuperSlide”, which is for toddlers and lets them, enjoy a big slide without having to climb up long ladders. The total cost for this project will be $11,000.
